Monday was departure day. I finished my packing, and that afternoon my host dad Stefan drove me to the Cologne/Bonn airport. I had said all of my goodbyes to my host family that morning, but I knew I would miss my time with them. Hopefully we stay in touch in the future. My flight took me to Barcelona, Spain, where I met up with Sid and Katarina. We caught a cab from the airport, and I was very happy to be in a Spanish speaking country (although the dialect in Barcelona, Catalan, was a little different than normal Spanish). Because we had gotten there so late, we only had time to grab dinner before turning in for the night. The next day, we got started early. A short walk north brought us to the Sagrada Familia, a modern cathedral being constructed in Barcelona based on the designs by Gaudi. Although started in the early twentieth century, the cathedral is still under construction and won't be finished for another few years. It was not my favorite cathedral I had seen, and I was somewhat disappointed. Maybe because I had high expectations for the cathedral, I expected it to be grander. Afterwards, we toured a small museum devoted to FC Barcelona before walking along the Avenue de Gaudi and grabbing lunch at a tapas bar (another disappointing experience; Catalan food seems to use alot of mollusks). Afterwards, we walked to the beach and relaxed there for a bit. The water was freezing, but the ocean was a beautiful sight. As the sun began to set, we toured the Gothic Quarter of the city and ate dinner before finding a bar to watch Liverpool and Barcelona play the second leg of their Champions League draw. Unfortunately, Barcelona lost, much to my and the locals' disappointment. Barcelona was a beautiful city though, and I very much loved the atmosphere. We turned in early that night in preparation for early flights the next morning.
I had to be at the airport at 4:30 the next morning. My flight left Barcelona at 6:30, and I arrived in Venice, Italy at 8:00 AM. After gathering my bags, I settled in at a cafe outside baggage claim and waited. Three and a half hours later, I walked over to the baggage claim exit. Within ten minutes, my favorite people in the world came walking through the doors. My parents, siblings, and girlfriend had arrived. I had to hold back tears as I embraced each of them, one after the other, so happy to be reunited with them. I had missed each and every one of them so much this semester, and I was ecstatic to be with them again. We caught a bus to the main city, and then a vaparetto, or water taxi, to the island of Lido. There, we checked into our hotel before returning to the city. We wandered the streets and explored, grabbed some pizza, and ate gelato in the streets. Although the weather was not great, I loved our exploring and being back with my family. We returned to Lido that evening, enjoyed dinner at the hotel, and turned in for the night. I am sure my family was exhausted from their long flight. I went to bed feeling like I was home.
